Febuary 22, 1732- December 14, 1799 in Virginia
Terms of Office: April 30, 1789- March 3, 1797 (2 terms)
Vice President: John Adams
Political Party: Independent
George Washington is an excellent example for how every president of our nation should strive to be. I would rate Washington and his administration with an A for the admirable work they did for our nation. Globalization is a notable factor that was evident during both of Washington’s terms. The Jay Treaty was created in 1794 between Great Britain and the United states in order to avoid war between them. It also resolved previous issues that were still present since the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War. Also Pinckney’s Treaty was a major contributor to globalization during Washington’s terms. This treaty established the intensions of friendship between Spain and the United States. This treaty also defined the boundaries between the Spanish colonies and confirmed that the United States had navigation rights on the Mississippi River. It is exceedingly clear that Washington had many intensions of supporting globalization while serving his terms as president. He wanted to peacefully connect the United States with worldwide integration and development.
Washington had a plan of creating a powerful and great nation that would have the foundation of “republican lines using federal power.” He wanted to use the national government to better the framework of our nation, expand the western lands, promote commerce, stabilize a permanent capital, lower the tensions between other regions, and ultimately promote a spirit of nationalism. Most of his goals that he had while in office were accomplished by the end of his terms. There are multiple major acts that Washington, as president, achieved. He fulfilled his goal of using the national government to better the framework of our nation by organizing the United States Cabinet, the Executive Branch and the United States judiciary. Another way in which he bettered our framework is the fact that Washington oversaw the ratification of the Bill of Rights. Washington accomplished both goals of expanding western lands and decreasing tensions between other regions, by supporting multiple treaties. The Treaty of Greenville, Pinckney’s Treaty, and the Jay Treaty were among some of them. He also helped stabilize a permanent capital by overseeing the establishment, location, and planning for the District of Colombia. The goals of George Washington were not easy and took a lot of effort on Washington’s part, but he accomplished almost every one of them while in office.
The relationship between George Washington and congress was very good. The congress respected Washington and his views. They did not challenge his viewpoints out of respect and honor towards him. The first United States Congress offered to pay Washington a salary of 25,000 dollars a year, which was a pretty large amount of money in 1789. But Washington, being already a wealthy man, declined the salary because he wanted to be an image of a selfless servant of his country. This decision gave the United States Congress all the more reasons to respect Washington and his morals. Congress, even when controlled by the opposition party, agreed with the president’s opinion most of the time. In return, Washington respected Congress and took their ideas into consideration also. He talked with department’s heads regularly and listened to their advice before making any decisions. Congress and Washington seemed to have a favorable relationship full of honor, respect, and most importantly, the shared feeling of patriotism for their country.
The best action that this president and his administration had during Washington’s term was the ratification of The Bill of Rights. Without these ten amendments, we wouldn’t be protected from freedom of speech, freedom from warrantless searches, or even from cruel and unusual punishments. The amendments play a key role in the law and government still today and are a symbol of freedom and of our nation’s culture.
The action that had a negative outcome during Washington’s term as president was the tax on whiskey intended to fund the national debt from the war and put our country on an economically correct path. After Washington approved the increase of tax on liquor, Pennsylvania farmers, who regularly made their corn crop into alcohol to eliminate the cost of transporting grain long distances to market, refused to pay the tax. This resulted in the Whiskey Rebellion in 1790 when the farmers used violence and threats to prevent the officials from collecting the tax. Washington then had to send peace commissioners to negotiate with the Western Pennsylvania rebels. Even though there was a bit of a rough patch in the tax that Washington approved, in the end he took action and smoothed things over with the rebels while still enforcing the laws of our country.
George Washington influenced future presidential administrations in many ways, especially since he was the first president. Washington set a high bar and created a great image for future presidents. His greatness and dignity is present in the Oval Office to this day. One major action that impacted our presidential administrations is when Washington refused to deliver documents to the House of Representatives regarding the Jay’s Treaty of 1795. In doing this, he created what became known as executive privilege. Executive privilege is the power of the president to resist certain summons and interventions coming from the legislative and judicial branches of government. This executive privilege is still used by presidents today. Washington’s term as president set our nation on a path that we have been following for over 200 years. Some say he “wrote tradition as he went along” and his actions became part of an “unwritten constitution.”
After Washington’s two terms as president, our country was far better off than it had been before. He contributed so much to his country that will be forever passed down to presidents for generations to come. Any future president should look at Washington as an excellent role model for how to run and lead a country. He will always be remembered as a father of our country and as Henry Lee describes him, “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of our countrymen.”
Bibliography
"American President: George Washington: Foreign Affairs." Miller Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2011.
<http://millercenter.org/president>
"Why is George Washington Considered of this nation?." ThisNation.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2011.
<http://thisnation.com/question>
celebrations, cannon salutes, and parades. Soon afterwards he. "SparkNotes: George Washington: The
Presidency, First Term." SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. N.p., n.d. Web. 29
Aug. 2011. <http://www.sparknotes.com/biography>
George Washington
Febuary 22, 1732- December 14, 1799 in VirginiaTerms of Office: April 30, 1789- March 3, 1797 (2 terms)
Vice President: John Adams
Political Party: Independent
George Washington is an excellent example for how every president of our nation should strive to be. I would rate Washington and his administration with an A for the admirable work they did for our nation. Globalization is a notable factor that was evident during both of Washington’s terms. The Jay Treaty was created in 1794 between Great Britain and the United states in order to avoid war between them. It also resolved previous issues that were still present since the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War. Also Pinckney’s Treaty was a major contributor to globalization during Washington’s terms. This treaty established the intensions of friendship between Spain and the United States. This treaty also defined the boundaries between the Spanish colonies and confirmed that the United States had navigation rights on the Mississippi River. It is exceedingly clear that Washington had many intensions of supporting globalization while serving his terms as president. He wanted to peacefully connect the United States with worldwide integration and development.
Washington had a plan of creating a powerful and great nation that would have the foundation of “republican lines using federal power.” He wanted to use the national government to better the framework of our nation, expand the western lands, promote commerce, stabilize a permanent capital, lower the tensions between other regions, and ultimately promote a spirit of nationalism. Most of his goals that he had while in office were accomplished by the end of his terms. There are multiple major acts that Washington, as president, achieved. He fulfilled his goal of using the national government to better the framework of our nation by organizing the United States Cabinet, the Executive Branch and the United States judiciary. Another way in which he bettered our framework is the fact that Washington oversaw the ratification of the Bill of Rights. Washington accomplished both goals of expanding western lands and decreasing tensions between other regions, by supporting multiple treaties. The Treaty of Greenville, Pinckney’s Treaty, and the Jay Treaty were among some of them. He also helped stabilize a permanent capital by overseeing the establishment, location, and planning for the District of Colombia. The goals of George Washington were not easy and took a lot of effort on Washington’s part, but he accomplished almost every one of them while in office.
The relationship between George Washington and congress was very good. The congress respected Washington and his views. They did not challenge his viewpoints out of respect and honor towards him. The first United States Congress offered to pay Washington a salary of 25,000 dollars a year, which was a pretty large amount of money in 1789. But Washington, being already a wealthy man, declined the salary because he wanted to be an image of a selfless servant of his country. This decision gave the United States Congress all the more reasons to respect Washington and his morals. Congress, even when controlled by the opposition party, agreed with the president’s opinion most of the time. In return, Washington respected Congress and took their ideas into consideration also. He talked with department’s heads regularly and listened to their advice before making any decisions. Congress and Washington seemed to have a favorable relationship full of honor, respect, and most importantly, the shared feeling of patriotism for their country.
The best action that this president and his administration had during Washington’s term was the ratification of The Bill of Rights. Without these ten amendments, we wouldn’t be protected from freedom of speech, freedom from warrantless searches, or even from cruel and unusual punishments. The amendments play a key role in the law and government still today and are a symbol of freedom and of our nation’s culture.
The action that had a negative outcome during Washington’s term as president was the tax on whiskey intended to fund the national debt from the war and put our country on an economically correct path. After Washington approved the increase of tax on liquor, Pennsylvania farmers, who regularly made their corn crop into alcohol to eliminate the cost of transporting grain long distances to market, refused to pay the tax. This resulted in the Whiskey Rebellion in 1790 when the farmers used violence and threats to prevent the officials from collecting the tax. Washington then had to send peace commissioners to negotiate with the Western Pennsylvania rebels. Even though there was a bit of a rough patch in the tax that Washington approved, in the end he took action and smoothed things over with the rebels while still enforcing the laws of our country.
George Washington influenced future presidential administrations in many ways, especially since he was the first president. Washington set a high bar and created a great image for future presidents. His greatness and dignity is present in the Oval Office to this day. One major action that impacted our presidential administrations is when Washington refused to deliver documents to the House of Representatives regarding the Jay’s Treaty of 1795. In doing this, he created what became known as executive privilege. Executive privilege is the power of the president to resist certain summons and interventions coming from the legislative and judicial branches of government. This executive privilege is still used by presidents today. Washington’s term as president set our nation on a path that we have been following for over 200 years. Some say he “wrote tradition as he went along” and his actions became part of an “unwritten constitution.”
After Washington’s two terms as president, our country was far better off than it had been before. He contributed so much to his country that will be forever passed down to presidents for generations to come. Any future president should look at Washington as an excellent role model for how to run and lead a country. He will always be remembered as a father of our country and as Henry Lee describes him, “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of our countrymen.”
Bibliography
"American President: George Washington: Foreign Affairs." Miller Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2011.<http://millercenter.org/president>
"Why is George Washington Considered of this nation?." ThisNation.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2011.
<http://thisnation.com/question>
celebrations, cannon salutes, and parades. Soon afterwards he. "SparkNotes: George Washington: The
Presidency, First Term." SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. N.p., n.d. Web. 29
Aug. 2011. <http://www.sparknotes.com/biography>